Under 15 Friendly International – Sunday 9th May 2021
Colliers Park, Wrexham
Wales 2 – 6 England
England’s Under 15 Schoolgirls returned to action with a blistering attacking performance against Wales on Sunday with Megan Sofield leading the way with a hat-trick!
Rebecca Ferguson captained the side and led her team out at Colliers Park for their first match since returning from Dublin with the John Read Trophy a mere 429 days ago, although the break didn’t seem to have affected their confidence as the girls opened the scoring with almost their first attack.
Lucy Cooper saw her shot saved by the Welsh keeper but as the ball rolled towards the goal Poppy Pritchard was on hand to smash in the opening goal. Moments later, the lead was doubled as Cooper’s shot was too strong for the home keeper and England were off to a dream start.
The half somehow ended with no further goals but with the Welsh keeper certainly the busier, with Delphi Cole shooting just wide and both Pritchard, Cooper and Sofield proving a real handful for the Welsh defence.
The second half started exactly like the first with two quick fire goals. Megan Sofield took advantage of a mistake in the Welsh defence to make it 3-0 and followed it up with a long range effort for her 2nd and England’s 4th.
Wales pulled a goal back following a scramble in the 6 yard box but almost immediately, Pritchard scored her 2nd of the game, surging through the defence and firing home from a tight angle. Again Wales fought back and grabbed a second to pull back to 5-2 and had arguably their best spell of the game with only a flying save from Aimie Flood preventing them edging closer still.
As the grey clouds rolled over to spoil an afternoon of perfect weather in North Wales, all that was left was for Sofield to complete the scoring with her hat-trick goal late on and cap a fantastic day for her and the squad overall.
Next up is a trip to Newcastle-upon-Tyne for a match with Scotland in June and we can only hope that the girls pick up where they left off in Wrexham.
The upcoming England U16 Schoolgirls’ match against Scotland on Saturday 5 June, will be live streamed online via the ESFA’s YouTube channel, ESFA TV. More details will be shared via the ESFA online in the coming weeks.
Match report & photo credits: 353 Photography
The National Governing Body for Schools’ Football in England.